On Stage at Kingsborough, the performing arts center located at Manhattan Beach’s Kingsborough Community College, is putting on an exciting holiday performance lineup this year.

In a season that already includes cabaret, dance, music and family programming, the center is celebrating the holidays with two extravagant events for Hanukkah and Christmas.

“This year On Stage at Kingsborough is bringing the holiday spirit to Southern Brooklyn with two special performances,” said Anna Becker, Executive Director of On Stage at Kingsborough. “We invite the audience to kick off Hanukkah with a lively celebration of klezmer music, and later to join us for the Christmas classic, “The Nutcracker,” from the celebrated company, The State Ballet Theatre of Russia.”

“It’s truly an uplifting time of year, and we look forward to spending it with our audience,” Becker added.

On Sunday, December 3, at 3 p.m., host MusicTalks will kick off the Hanukkah celebrations with a special holiday themed performance. In the show, “8 Days of Klezmer” the unique spirit of klezmer will be explored, including melodies of joyful sorrow, and Gypsy-flavored Hanukkah favorites from the Shtetls of Eastern Europe to the streets of New York City. Elad Kabilio, founder of MusicTalks, will be joined by the Israeli ensemble 12th Night Klezmer and guest vocalist and Yiddish theatre star, Daniella Rabbani.

12th Night Klezmer is an all-Israeli ensemble who have trained at the world’s leading music conservatories and have been featured in festivals worldwide. Rabbani has traveled the world with The National Yiddish Theater, performing alongside stars such as Mandy Patinkin, Ron Rifkin, and Tovah Feldshuh at Lincoln Center, Town Hall, and most recently at The Jewish State Theater in Warsaw, Poland. After the performance, the audience will have the opportunity to meet the artists.

Two weeks later, audiences will be able to see a beautiful rendition of “The Nutcracker.”

On Sunday, December 17, at 3 p.m., the State Ballet Theatre of Russia will present “The Nutcracker”

“The Nutcracker” is a captivating adventure through a little girl’s fantasy world filled with fairies, princes, toy soldiers, and an army of endearing mice. Audiences will be transported by this stunning full-scale production featuring Pyotr Tchaikovsky's wondrous score, choreography by world-renowned Marius Petipa and The Mariinsky’s Vasily Vainonen, and 40 of Russia’s brightest ballet stars in glorious costumes.

Last year, the highlight of the show was the Land of the Sweets where dancers took on a more abstract presentation to represent sweets from around the world.

While the dancers representing chocolate from Spain gave a sultry performance, and the dancers representing tea from China gave a jolly collaboration, the dancers representing coffee from Arabia were intoxicating with a series of ballet lifts throughout the night.

The traveling set design throughout the show remained simple but persuasive. The entire story was told through the various dances and Tchaikovsky's wondrous score. This professional performance of "The Nutcracker" was nearly flawless, and gave the American audience a taste of classic Russian ballet.

The State Ballet Theatre of Russia (from the city of Voronezh), founded by the legendary Bolshoi Theatre Ballet principal dancer, Maya Plisetskaya, is now directed by the award-winning Moiseyev Dance Company soloist Nikolay Anokhin.

Ticket information can be found at www.OnStageAtKingsborough.org and the On Stage at Kingsborough box office can be found at Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Boulevard (cross street: Oxford) in Manhattan Beach.